RBs - Steve Slaton? Cmon he s been invisible since 2008, Jones has very little if any tread left and would be no better than the Rudi Johnson signing a few yrs ago, LenDale White has the same injury as LeShoure and is too lazy to have a legit shot at making a comeback. Any of them could be camp players but none is a FA splash. In a FA class w Lynch, Hillis, Michael Bush its just a crap list by Lacy.

Cs - why would we sign a backup starter esp one like Hardwick and Saturday that is better than Raiola? The backup center should be someone like Gandy or a drafted player that eventually becomes a starter. There is no point to paying an expensive backup center when Raiola doesnt have injury issues.

WRs - ridiculous list. Anthony Gonzalez is the definition of injury prone, the other 3 are special teamers who have no value as WRs at this point.

OTs - Grubbs is a guard as someone else pointed out. Gaither and Bell have serious injury issues but might be options, though Bell hasnt really been very good. Boone is a reserve player who just signed a 4 yr contract and isnt available (signed prior to lacy's article)

DEs - they are all decent players but all are 3-4 DEs who dont really project into our system except at possibly the DT spot. Redding played a decent DE for us but his body type has changed, maybe could be a run stuffing 43 DE but that doenst seem to be our system anymore. Jones could play DT but probably also doesnt fit our system as an end. Campbell is a premier 3-4 end and Roth is traditionally a 3-4 player as well.

LBs - Walden is a 3-4 player that fits their system opposite Matthews but isnt really all that talented as a former street FA and doenst project into our system. Connor plays MLB where almost everyone would prefer Tulloch back. No way that Sims comes back, we already had him and decided he didnt fit in the defense when we were 0-16, we definitely dont have room for him on the wild card version of that team unless he wants to play special teams. Dont know who Chamberlain is.

Had to get that off my chest, Lacy's list made no sense to me.

January 14th, 2012, 11:16 am

The Legend

Veteran NFL Head Coach

Joined: February 11th, 2005, 3:01 pmPosts: 5043Location: WSU

Re: Digging deeper into Calvin Johnson's future

shouldnt we be able to sign johnson to a contract a little more than Fitzgerald's, making calvin the highest paid WR in the NFL? not sure the relevance of seifert's article other than to point out that it doesnt make sense to use franchise tags on calvin

shouldnt we be able to sign johnson to a contract a little more than Fitzgerald's, making calvin the highest paid WR in the NFL? not sure the relevance of seifert's article other than to point out that it doesnt make sense to use franchise tags on calvin

Seifert's point is that Calvin could conceivably make more money by not signing an extension and accepting the franchise tag next year. What Seifert ignores is that players generally want long-term security as insurance against an injury. If a player turns down a long-tern extension in favor of hoping for the franchise tag, an injury could prevent them from ever getting another paycheck.

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January 14th, 2012, 9:31 pm

jrd66

Mr. Irrelevant

Joined: February 10th, 2005, 6:52 pmPosts: 971Location: Linden, MI

Re: Digging deeper into Calvin Johnson's future

mwill2 wrote:

Seifert's point is that Calvin could conceivably make more money by not signing an extension and accepting the franchise tag next year. What Seifert ignores is that players generally want long-term security as insurance against an injury. If a player turns down a long-tern extension in favor of hoping for the franchise tag, an injury could prevent them from ever getting another paycheck.

What Seifert also ignores is the fact that no NFL team is likely to pay Calvin Johnson the price that the Franchise tag salary escalation dictates. The Lions can't afford it, and neither can anybody else. Therefore, CJ's market value falls somewhere closer to Fitzgerald's numbers than the Franchise tag numbers. If the Lions do not franchise him, he will not see those 27 million dollar contracts. It all depends on if CJ is wanting to stay or leave. If he wants out, he is gone and he will get a contract for more than LF. If he wants to stay, he will do so with some arrangement that allows the Lions to afford his services at a price that is more than LF but less than the franchise dollars that the CBA dictates. The Lions might franchise him one time, but I think that is the practical limit. Siefert's scenario might make more sense if it were practical that 3 or 4 teams would offer him more than the franchise dollars. That, however, I think is highly unlikey to tell the truth. His true open market value will not approach Sieferts numbers.

Signing Johnson to an extension is clearly a priority for Lions general manager Martin Mayhew, and possibly soon.

"I think we have an opportunity to work on that this offseason," Mayhew told reporters this month. "I don't think it's something that absolutely has to be done, but we have an opportunity to work on it."

Johnson, 26, had career highs in catches (96), receiving yards (1,681) and touchdown catches (16) during the 2011 season.

He's expected to make $14 million with the Lions next season, but can make the case he deserves top dollar for his position.

Arizona receiver Larry Fitzgerald is the league's highest paid receiver. Last summer, he signed an eight-year contract worth $120 million.

During the ESPN interview Monday, Johnson appeared focused more on the Lions' future than any looming contract negotiations.

Johnson spoke glowingly about the potential he and Stafford have to build on, claiming the duo can be special if they can "stay on the field" and avoid injuries. Johnson also said he believes the Lions' 10-7 season — which included the franchises first playoff appearance in more than a decade — is "a start" to what could be consistent success.

The interview was done on Rome Is Burning. I just looked on ESPN and it is not posted on their site yet. I just happened to click on the show that day and Rome said CJ was the guest so I stuck around and listen to it and left with a big I got the impression that CJ would like to have a new deal done before the start of next season.

_________________"When you eat crow, if you put barbecue on it, it's not so bad."-Brady Hoke

The interview was done on Rome Is Burning. I just looked on ESPN and it is not posted on their site yet. I just happened to click on the show that day and Rome said CJ was the guest so I stuck around and listen to it and left with a big I got the impression that CJ would like to have a new deal done before the start of next season.

Jim Rome, who most recently hosted a late-afternoon talk show on ESPN2, is leaving the network and taking his show to the CBS Sports Network.

"Jim Rome is Burning" will move networks on Jan. 27. Rome has been with ESPN since the launch of ESPN2 in 1993. He left briefly but returned in 2004 with his current show.

"Jim has been a valuable part of the ESPN family for most of the last two decades," an ESPN spokesman said. "We wish him the best of luck in his new endeavor."

ESPN will announce a replacement for Rome's show, which moved from ESPN to ESPN2 last year, shortly, the network said.

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January 25th, 2012, 2:19 pm

thelomasbrowns

Player of the Year - Offense

Joined: August 24th, 2010, 9:54 pmPosts: 2875

Re: Digging deeper into Calvin Johnson's future

PAY THE MAN

_________________"Good teams don't worry about a whole lot of stuff. They travel, they play, they win. And it doesn't matter where they go, what the time block is, all those kinds of things. They never seem to bother teams that play well, and we want to be one of those teams." -Jim Caldwell

January 26th, 2012, 10:50 am

buell17

Afghan Allstar

Joined: January 9th, 2006, 1:16 pmPosts: 564Location: San Diego, CA

Re: Digging deeper into Calvin Johnson's future

My favorite CJ touchdown was the one against Chicago with the stiff-arm...."Get off me!"